Improvement in combined cotton choppers and cultivators



A. f. RBEBTS. Combined Cotton-Choppers and Cultivanrs.

Patented Gct. 28,1873.`

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5S PRac UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT F. ROBERTS, OF KNO'XVILLE, TENNESSEE.

' IMPROVEMENT IN COMBINED COTTON CHOPPERS AND CULTIVATORS.

Specificatlon forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,997, dated October 28, 1873; application filed March 15, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT F. ROBERTS, of Knoxville, Knox county, Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Combined Cotton Chopper and Gultivator, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. n

The invention relates to that class of devices for removing the surplus growth of cotton-plants and cultivating the adjacent soil; and consists in providing an axle rotated by the conveying-wheels with a gearing, communicating movement to a shaft, and thus operating a slotted cam, which acts upon a pin secured to a jointed rod, giving the same a rocking or rotating movement, the opposite end of the rod being supported in a box between the beams of two plows, and its extremity provided with a slotted standard, to the lower end of which is secured a hoe or plate, to which is communicated an intermittent lateral movement, by which the operation is eifected. The front extremities of the plow-beams are secured to a brace under the axle, so that they can be moved laterallyT or vertically, the joint in the rod between them being in the nature of a universal joint, permitting this movement, while the sweep of the hoe or cutter can be regulated by the slot in its standard. The object of the invention is to provide an efectual means for thinning out rows of cotton-plants.

Figure lis a perspective view of a device embodying the elements of the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of same. Fig. 3 is a detached view of the cam H. Fig. 4 are detached side and end views of the hoe M and standard L. Fig. 5 are detached views of the plowshares and hoe.

A in the accompanying drawings is a frame, provided at its front with a pole, B, or other suitable means of attaching the propelling power. The rear of the pole, passing through the frame, is provided at its extremity with a plate, c, in which the front end of the rod I is journaled. The frame A is braced by the bar C, secured at each end directly below the axle in the hangers b, and is supported by the wheels D, rigidly secured to the axle E, to which is fixedly secured the spur-gear wheel c, which engages the pinion d. The wheel c being of much greater diameter than the pinion d, the wheel and pinion revolve in the ratio required, being, in the present instance, respectively, one to four and a half. The pinion d being rigidly secured to the shaft F, motion is imparted thereto through the revolution of the wheel c. On the shaft F adjacent the pinion d, and in the vertical plane of the longitudinal center ofthe device, is rigidly secured the slotted cam H, having portions of the slot a: on opposite sides of the cam at right angles to the axle. and those parts of the 'slot which connect the aforesaid portions forming curves. In the slot in the cam H is placed the head of the pin c, which may be provided with a friction-roller, its base being firmly secured to the rod I. Hence, as the cam H rotates, the pin c remains stationary while the right-angled sides of the slot are passing it, j being, however, forced alternately from side to side as it is acted upon by the curved portions of the slot. Thus, there is communicated to the rod I an alternate intermittent rocking movement. The rear of the rod I is attached in the box e to the brace C, its extremity being secured by a pivot in the front portion of the sleeve f, to the rear portion of which is secured, in a similar manner, the front end of the rod K, thus allowing it a lateral and vertical movement. The front extremities of the plowbeams h are attached to the brace C in any manner that permits a lateral or vertical movement ofthe plows, the rear of the beams being connected by the bar i, hinged to the beams la on each side, and provided with a box, through which the rod K extends, the rear extremities of the plow-beams being provided with plowhandles, to the lower ends of which a right and-left share is attached. By this arrangement either of the plows may be elevated or ,depressed without affecting the other, or both may be raised or moved laterally or vertically. The rear extremity of the rod K is reduced to a guide, about which is a dat shoulder. The guide, extending through the slot l in the standard L, is provided with a thread and nut for adjusting the standard, the lower end of which is secured at right angles to the center ofthe hoe M, which may be of any convenient form, but preferably slightly concavo-convex lozenge-shaped, having its points properly curved upward, the lower surface being in about the saine plane as the corresponding surface of the plowshares.

The standard L may be formed of one piece of material, or, as in the present instance, of two, the upper suitably attached to the lower by a pivot near its extremity, and both provided above with coinciding apertures for a break-pin. When thus constructed, should the hoe M in operatin g strike any unyielding object, the break-pin gives way, and the lower 'part of the standard swings upon the pivot,

thus preventing any damage to the device.

It is obvious that the hoe M may be made to perform a complete revolution by means of a beveled gear attached to the axle, and engaging a corresponding pinion on the rod K. Usually, cotton-seed is sown by drills in continuous rows, and, as the plants develop, it becomes necessary that a certain portion of them should be removed, leaving groups of the proper number separated by proper intervals. To remove these surplus plants is the office of the present invention.

The device being put in motion, movement is at once imparted, through the connecting spurgears, axle, and. shaft, to the cam H, which, as it rotates, acts upon the pin e, giving it an alternate lateral movement, which occasions a rocking movement in the rod I, through which a similar movement is communicated to the rod K, thereby causing the standard L and the hoe M to vibrate intermittently and laterally. The device being driven so that its longitudinal center is relatively above the row of plants to be operated upon, it is obvious that at every sweep of the hoe M certain plants will be cut out, and during the time it remains to the right or left of the row, as the device progresses, certain plants will be left to form the stand, the conveying-wheels and intermediate mechanism being so arranged that the hoe, being of the proper length, shall strike the row at such intervals as to cut out proper spaces and leave standing a proper number of plants.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The cam H, provided with the slot X, in combination With the pin e, rods I and K, sleeve f, standard L, and hoe M, when arranged and opera-ted substantially as shown and described.

2. The cam H, pin e, rods I and K, sleeve f, standard L, and hoe M, arranged and operated as shown and described, in combination with the vertical and lateral swinging plows, provided with right and left shares, and connected by the bar z', substantially as and for the purposes shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the roregoing'combined cotton chopper and cultivator, as above described, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 14th day of March, 1873.

ALBERT F. ROBERTS. lr.. s]

Vitnesses R. H. HARKNnss, DEnrs TIMNEY. 

